Hong Kong, September 15, 2016
—IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has joined the World Green Building Council (WorldGBC) to recognize leading businesses and innovators in sustainability at its biannual Asia Pacific awards. IFC’s Regional Green Building Specialist for Asia, Autif Sayyed, contributed his technical expertise in the adjudication of the regional competition.
“We strongly believe that improving the efficiency of resources used to construct and operate buildings is not only good for the environment, but also makes smart business sense for the builders and occupants,” said Sayyed. “This can be done through a combination of mandatory regulations, voluntary certifications and recognitions, and targeted financial investments.”
The Asia Pacific Leadership in Green Building Awards recognizes businesses and projects that demonstrate exemplary work within the categories of
Business Leadership in Sustainability
or
Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance
. While the former highlights organizations that are committed to integrating sustainable practices into their operations, the latter evaluates projects for their environmental design in terms of construction, resource efficiency and health impacts on occupants.
The WorldGBC is a coalition of over 100 national Green Building Councils with 27,000 member companies. WorldGBC CEO, Terri Wills said: “Our ongoing partnership with IFC helps us to collectively raise the profile of the Awards, allowing us to effectively showcase and celebrate the achievements of businesses and
innovators in the Asia Pacific region which are leading the way on sustainability in buildings.”
This year, a dozen finalists are vying for four prizes (listed below). The winners will be officially announced in early October at India’s GBC Annual Congress in Mumbai. Entrants were nominated by 11 national green building councils across the Asia Pacific region. “These awards highlight the pioneering projects and corporations in the region that have demonstrated that the cost of achieving higher green building standards and policies is low, while their benefits are immense,” said Sayyed. “Highlighting and awarding them will create awareness and momentum in the countries towards greater sustainable urbanization.”
IFC works at the local level with green building councils to promote the development of new buildings with low resource usage and environmental impact. IFC’s EDGE (“Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies”) is a green building certification system with free software that empowers companies in emerging market countries to design and build projects in a resource-efficient way. Through the EDGE innovation, developers can plan, design and realize projects with reductions of at least 20 percent in energy and water usage, as well as the energy used to make construction materials.
The finalists of the Awards are as follows (in no particular order):
Business Leadership in Sustainability category
-
Cundall, Australia
-
Henderson Land Development, Hong Kong
-
Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, India
Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance category – Commercial
-
69 Robertson Street – Floth, Australia
-
Ceres Organic, New Zealand
-
CapitaGreen, Singapore
Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance category – Residential
-
Double Cove, Hong Kong
-
Asset Aura, India
-
Tree House, Singapore
Leadership in Sustainable Design and Performance category – Institutional
-
University of Queensland Global Change Institute, Australia
-
ZCB by Construction Industry Council, Hong Kong
-
Energy Dream Centre, Korea
About IFC
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused on the private sector in emerging markets. Working with 2,000 businesses worldwide, we use our six decades of experience to create opportunity where it’s needed most. In FY16, our long-term investments in developing countries rose to nearly $19 billion, leveraging our capital, expertise and influence to help the private sector end extreme poverty and boost shared prosperity. For more information, visit
www.ifc.org
About WorldGBC
The World Green Building Council is a network of national green building councils in more than one hundred countries, making it the world’s largest international organization influencing the green building marketplace.The WorldGBC’s mission is to strengthen green building councils in member countries by championing their leadership and connecting them to a network of knowledge, inspiration and practical support.
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